The German American Collection, The Album 10

Costume party time. I have no idea who the man is supposed to be. It looks like a full length rain slicker. Then again, it might be some sort of wizard's cloak. And the group photo is numbered, but the key is missing.

The German American Collection, The Album 9

Every time I see a photograph of a German child from between the wars, I can't help but wonder what happened to them. And by that, I don't just wonder about whether they survived, or not. If this picture was taken in the early twenties, then this little boy would have been the right age for Hitler Youth and then the army. He would have also been the right age to have made choices, rather than being a blind follower, unaware of any reality beyond National Socialism. Was he enthusiastic? Was he a doubter? Did he resist? Of course, this album was purchased from a dealer in the United States. With any luck, he spent most of his childhood in New York, voted for Franklin Roosevelt, helped liberate Europe, and spent the post war years in a suburb, living a nice middle class life.

The German American Collection, The Album 8

In part 5 there was a dated beer keg, August 5, 1923, and in part 6 there was an older version of the couple pictured in this post. So, what time span can be found in this album? Note the mustache in the first picture. A style that would become popular, in Germany, in the 1930s, but would loose it's appeal in the mid 40s.

The German American Collection, The Album 6

Pictures of middle class comfort? It seems so, but how was that possible. In the last post from this album, there was a beer keg with a 1923 date. 1923 was right in the middle of the German hyperinflation that nearly destroyed the German economy and helped pave the way for the rise of the Nazi party. Take a look on line, and pictures of people pushing wheelbarrows of cash to buy groceries can be found. Yet, this couple look quite comfortable. In the picture of the man, he's looking through an art book, and in the far background there is a very nice house. Two possibilities come to mind. While most German's lost almost everything, German businessmen who did business with other nations, had foreign currency to spend and grew quite wealthy. And the other possibility? With an exchange rate of billions of marks to the dollar, if this family had an American branch, even a small amount of U.S. currency could have kept these people in comfort.

The German American Collection, The Album 5

It's a wedding. So that's why all these people have gathered together. I do hope people will click on the individual images and bring them up in a bigger window. It will make it easier to see that the man straddling the barrel in the second photo is the accordionist in the first. And since there is a date on the beer keg, August 5, 1923, we can then get a good idea of the wedding's date.

The German American Collection, The Album 4

Trying to duplicate the experience of going through a photo album, on line, really isn't possible, but since this page would have been sideways when opened, that's the way it's posted. This collection is a lot bigger than this album. To see it all, click on German-American in the labels section.

The German American Collection, The Album 3

The idea of English as a national language is only about 100 years old. Much of the upper mid-west was pioneered by immigrants from Germany and the Nordic countries. Many of the small farming communities, not only had German, Swedish or Norwegian as primary languages, but sometimes, the only language. In one town, civic documents might be in German, in another, the schools taught in Swedish, and the street signs could be in Norwegian in a third. So what changed? America's entry into World War 1, viewed by many as an unjustified intrusion into a European war of empire, had to be sold to the general public. Propaganda campaigns that pictured German soldiers as blood crazed animals, who willingly bayoneted woman and children, who raped nuns and burnt churches, helped sell American entry into the conflict, while also bringing into question the patriotism of those who continued to speak languages other than English.

So, how can we tell that a photograph is from Europe when all we have to go on are signs in the background, or written labels that may not be in English? In the case of this album, take a close look at the team photo. There is a badge on the athletes jerseys from Aurich. Aurich is a region and town in Lower Saxony, in Germany. (Click on the image to bring it up in a larger window, to see it better.) Throw in some of the building styles, and a non American military uniform that will be in a future post from this album, and Germany, not Minnesota, is the more probable location.

The German American Collection, The Album 2

Is the smallest child in the group shot a little boy, the only son, or the fourth daughter? Click on German-American in the labels section to bring up the lot.

The German American Collection, The Album 1

This is it, the most interesting part of the German-American collection. And, like so much in the world of found photographs, it's also a bit of a mystery. Except for the cover, is the album complete, or is this just a tantalizing fragment? Nothing is written on the pages so we don't know names, dates, or exact locations. Was there an index on the inside of the front cover, or was a knowledge of this family assumed, with no need for written information? I'll be putting up the album, without the big gaps that have been the hallmark of the collection, to date. As usual, I'll post a complete page to show placement, followed by separate scans of each image. Click on German-American in the labels section to bring up everything.

The German American Collection, The Partial Album Page

Yet another bit from the German-American collection. One small bit of an album page, two images, on opposite sides of the page. Click on German-American in the labels section to bring up the whole lot.

The Epworth League Album 37, The End

Another low level, staring off into space, precursor of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, photo. Not the image I would have chosen to end this album, but appropriate, nevertheless. There is no excuse now. Time to click on Epworth League in the labels section to view the entire collection, in order.

The Epworth League Album 36. The Mysterious Arrowhead

Won't someone tell me where this arrowhead was located.

The Epworth League Album 35, What A Tree

Two more pages, two more single photos, two more to go and then it's bye bye to the Epworth League. I'll bet both of these images got sent back home. Yes Virginia, we do have really, really tall palm trees, and cactus gardens too. Of course, Iowa has the Mississippi River and L. A.'s river is just a tiny little thing. Can't have everything.

The Epworth League Album 34, To The Parapets

I don't know if the same person took all the photos in this album, but I do know that this last batch of photos all have a similar style. Low angles, somewhat off compositions, and that whole thing were some of the subjects look at the camera while others stare off into space. This buildings look like it's made of stone, increasing the chances that it's still standing. I don't recognize it, but if anyone out there does, please leave a comment.

The Epworth League Album 33, The Final Push

It's time to finish up the Epworth League photo album. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to break down the last few pages, but it won't be more than four more posts, maybe three. I just don't know yet. Hey, does anyone out there recognize the train station in the first photo? It's killing me because I'm certain I've seen a similar photo of an old station, located somewhere in southern California. Why didn't the owner of this album use captions?

The Epworth League Album 32, It Does Rain in Southern California

This is another of my favorite photographs from this album. The first big real estate developers in southern California advertised all over the United States trying to induce people to leave places like Iowa and Pennsylvania and come west. One of the biggest draws was that it was always sunny in the Los Angles area. No snow, hurricanes, and flood causing rains. The reality is that it does rain in southern Cal and before the Army Corp. of Engineers lined the Los Angeles River in concrete, it also flooded fairly often. No matter how optimistic someone is, doubts will arise. Were these two people wondering just what did they get themselves into? As the saying goes, into every life some rain must fall.

The Epworth League Album 31, An Epworthian Cross

In my small research into the Epworth League, I discovered a number of cultural references to the organization. From Sherwood Anderson to Ernest Hemingway and even in The Music Man, the League has been painted as a home for middle American dullness. Was this an Epworthian idea of good times? Hiking in the mountains to be photographed next to a cross? I'm a life long atheist, the only one in my family. My mother wasn't much of a church goer, just Easter and Christmas, but she did try and make me over into a believer. She wanted me to follow in my sister's footsteps and spend at least one summer at Jumonville, a Methodist church camp in western Pennsylvania. I'm happy to report that I wriggled out of that one, but I can remember the trips to pick up my sister, with all the campers hiking up to a sixty foot, mountaintop, steel cross. Lots of singing of hymns and holding hands.

The Epworth League Album 29, A Very Different L.A.

Hard to believe, but that beautiful rural land behind these four people is now covered in houses, schools and shopping centers. I recognize the ridge line as the San Gabriel Mountains, and while I can't be sure of the exact location, I'm pretty sure that the camera is pointed west, looking down the length of the San Gabriel Valley. That would mean Pasadena, Santa Anita and beyond. They look very confident in the future, don't they?

The Epworth League Album 28, Another Parade Picture

This is what I don't get. Sons of veterans? Why not actual veterans? Let's say this album was compiled in 1910, give or take a year or two. The Civil War would have ended about 45 years earlier. There would have been plenty of Civil War veterans still around. The Spanish American war would have been over for about a decade.

The Epworth League Album 27, Our New Home

This is one of my favorite photographs in this album and the reason I'm convinced that it isn't a collection about a trip to California, but about a new home on the west coast. There aren't many of these houses left, built before World War 1, and part of one of the first big building booms in the Los Angeles area, but some survive and if this one does, I'd love to find it.